Annual recycling education requirements
Property managers for multifamily buildings are required to provide recycling educational materials and instructions to all tenants upon move-in and annually thereafter by March 31 per city code Ch 22, Article III. Educational materials and instructions can be provided in print or electronically and should include information on collection locations and accepted recyclable materials and, if provided, acceptable organic materials. We recommend sharing the following resources with tenants:
Tips to improve your recycling program
- Stay up to date on city, county and state regulations regarding recycling and organics recycling.
- Encourage tenant participation through education, lease requirements and incentives.
- Provide staff with educational materials and collection containers to meet management’s expectations for recycling.
- Communicate program successes and challenges to tenants through monthly newsletters, posters in common spaces or word of mouth.
- Tailor your recycling program to your tenant's needs (i.e. translated materials).
- Show tenants the garbage, recycling, and organics recycling collection areas at move-in.
- Involve tenants in program planning and/or solicit feedback for future changes.
- Help tenants understand how to hour their household waste through city staff presentations, hands-on sorting practice or an open question and answer session.
- Post clear signage on collection containers in common areas and on chutes, dumpsters and carts.
Sign up to receive the Hennepin County Apartment Recycling newsletter for updates about new resources and grant information.
Organics recycling
Although multifamily properties are not required to offer organics recycling, participating in this program is a great way to divert waste from the trash. Approximately one-third of trash is made up of food scraps and other material that could be diverted to the organics cart for composting. Organics recycling is not taxed as garbage is and could be an opportunity to reduce trash hauling costs.
Drop-sites
Did you know that your property is less than 1.5 miles from an organics drop-site? The city offers an organics drop-site program for multifamily residents that do not have organics collection on-site. The city has 11 organics drop-sites for multifamily residents to dispose of their food scraps and other compostable material. We recommend sharing the following resources with tenants:
On-site collection
If you are interested in starting organics collection at your property, check with your current trash and recycling hauler to see if they offer this service. Hennepin County offers grant assistance to help start your program. To receive application materials, complete the multifamily recycling grant inquiry form.
